Trail Running at Chautauqua

As one of the founding members of Mizuno’s Mezamashii Project, I got the opportunity to choose any pair of shoes I wanted to test out. As y’all already know, I am and always have been a Brooks gal, so I was a little nervous about trying new running shoes. I looked at my options, and finally decided to give their Ascend 7’s a try. I have been wanting a pair of trail shoes for awhile and was originally going to purchase the Brooks Pure Grit, but when someone offers to send you a pair of shoes, you typically don’t shoot it down! (brilliant marketing, Mizuno! Brilliant!)

I had some issues with my shoes because I apparently don’t know my own shoe size, but my new Ascends arrived on Tuesday. They fit perfectly, so naturally, Cindy and I made plans last night to head down to Chautauqua and hit the trails. So psyched to try out the shoes AND get some trail running in– I have desperately missed it!

Unfortunately, the skies opened up and began dumping rain right around 5pm. I looked at the weather radar and saw that it seemed the storm would pass in 30 minutes, so we decided to brave the trails anyway. I was beginning to question my sanity when I drove into Boulder with the above as my view…not exactly optimum running conditions! However, the rain stopped and the sky began to clear just as I pulled into the parking lot at Chautauqua. Cool temps and beautiful scenery….the best way to start a run!

It has been awhile since I’ve done some legit, Colorado-style trail running, and yesterday’s route did not disappoint! The trail starts out with an immediate 600 foot gain, and Cindy and I were doing an awesome combination of running-hobbling-hiking. When I had droplets of sweat pouring off my eyelashes within five minutes, I knew I was in for a good run 🙂

After we topped out the initial climb, the trail evened out a bit and we even began to enjoy some downhill. Of course, that didn’t last long, and we had to climb back out of the canyon. I have always heard that your trail running pace should be 3-4 minutes slower than your road pace (anyone? is that true?), and I would say that was pretty accurate for our run.

However, the rain had cooled everything down, and although the trails were wicked muddy, we had such a blast! I always feel so much cooler when I’m covered in mud….is that just me?!

Because we had arrived just as the storm was passing, we had the entire park relatively to ourselves. We loved this, of course, and enjoyed the solitude, but it was a little disconcerting since there has apparently been huge bear activity in the area lately. Every single trail post had a sign, indicating that black bears had recently been spotted in that area. Some of the dates were July 29 and 30, so just a few days ago. I’m very used to playing in bear and mountain lion territory, but something about the eerily calm air and lack of civilization made us a little bear-paranoid! Luckily, the furry critters left us alone 🙂

Cindy and I ended up running 3.5 miles in just under 50 minutes. This put us at a 14:xx something pace, and while this is super slow, I was actually pleasantly surprised with our time. Some of those climbs were killer and I frequently remember seeing 18-19:00/mile paces and we trudged out of the canyon.

I was also super happy with the Mizuno Ascends! I am going to hold on making a final judgement call until I put in some more miles, but my initial impression is that they handled the rocks and stumps very well. They are also super light when compared to most trail shoes, which I really enjoyed since I am used to my minimalist Pure Cadence. Hopefully I will continue to be as happy with them as I was last night!